1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a sterilization chamber in the form of a cassette slidable into a sterilization apparatus and having fluid inlet and venting ports, with a bottom tray and an upper lid for the efficient holding of medical and/or dental instruments with fluid channels to be cleaned and/or sterilized.
2. Description of the Related Art
As experience has shown, there are special difficulties in cleaning and/or sterilizing long-extended medical and/or dental instruments with fluid channels, such as hand and angle pieces, after their use, to make them germ-free for the next usage. The cleaning and/or sterilization fluid must, namely, be led through all the cavities and channels in a sufficient manner.
A further difficulty is presented from the fact that instead of autoclaves having large-volume sterilization chambers, are therewith consuming much energy, there are now in use sterilization apparatuses the sterilization spaces of which are constructed as two-part cassettes slidable into the sterilization apparatus, having a bottom tray and an upper lid, the low volume of which makes possible an economical working requiring little time.
Thus, from EP 0 638 297 A1 is known a sterilization apparatus for the insertion of such sterilization vessels in the form of cassettes which have several adapters for the reception of elongated medical and/or dental instruments with fluid channels. Each of these adapters contains a connecting pin which is constructively adapted to the construction of the instruments. On the end facing away from the instrument, each adapter is constructed so that it can be easily detachable affixed to the back wall of the lower part of the cassette, for which purpose a rest lug is provided which cooperates with annular groove on the back wall of the lower part of the cassette. In each adapter there is present a slidable switching plunger which is activated by the sliding of an instrument onto the adapter against the force of a spring, and in the process frees the needed fluid channels. Such a construction is complicated and requires provisions on the cassette itself, so that cassettes of different construction type become necessary, and cassettes already present cannot subsequently be equipped with such adapters.